Detecting neural activity in the brain is useful for medical diagnostics, imaging, neuroengineering, brain-computer interfacing, and a variety of other diagnostic and consumer-related applications. For example, it may be desirable to detect neural activity in the brain of a patient to determine if a particular region of the brain has been impacted by reduced blood irrigation, a hemorrhage, or any other type of damage. As another example, it may be desirable to detect neural activity in the brain of a user and computationally decode the detected neural activity into commands that can be used to control various types of consumer electronics (e.g., by controlling a cursor on a computer screen, changing channels on a television, turning lights on, etc.).
A photodetector capable of detecting a single photon (i.e., a single particle of optical energy) is an example of a non-invasive detector that can be used to detect neural activity within the brain. For example, an array of these sensitive photodetectors can record photons that reflect off of tissue within the brain in response to application of one or more light pulses. Based on the time it takes for the photons to be detected by the photodetectors, neural activity and other attributes of the brain can be determined or inferred.
A photodetector that employs a semiconductor-based single-photon avalanche diode (SPAD) is capable of capturing individual photons with very high time-of-arrival resolution (a few tens of picoseconds). When photons are absorbed by a SPAD, their energy frees bound charge carriers (electrons and holes) that then become free-carrier pairs. In the presence of an electric field created by a reverse bias voltage applied to the diode, these free-carriers are accelerated through a region of the SPAD referred to as the multiplication region. As the free carriers travel through the multiplication region, they collide with other carriers bound in the atomic lattice of the semiconductor, thereby generating more free carriers through a process called impact ionization. These new free-carriers also become accelerated by the applied electric field and generate yet more free-carriers. This avalanche event can be detected and used to determine an arrival time of the photon.
In order to enable detection of a single photon, a SPAD is biased with a reverse bias voltage having a magnitude greater than the magnitude of its breakdown voltage, which is the bias level above which free-carrier generation can become self-sustaining and result in a runaway avalanche. This biasing of the SPAD is referred to as arming the device. When the SPAD is armed, a single free carrier pair created by the absorption of a single photon can create a runaway avalanche resulting in an easily detectable macroscopic current.
Unfortunately, photodetectors that employ semiconductor-based SPADs can suffer from a non-ideality referred to as a “memory effect.” Memory effect occurs when photons are absorbed in a substrate (e.g., a silicon substrate) of a semiconductor-based SPAD while the SPAD is disarmed. The absorbed photons create charge carriers that later diffuse into an active region (e.g., an avalanche region or a multiplication region) of the SPAD after the SPAD is armed. This may cause an undesirable noise event.
Studies have shown that the memory effect can be almost entirely eliminated by biasing a deep junction of the SPAD such that carriers are prevented from diffusing into the active region. However, this solution is undesirable because it involves additional bias circuitry and adds complexity to the photodetector.